Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, Kansas
September 15—19, 2010

Walnut Valley Wins

• 2005 FIRST place - National Bluegrass Banjo Championship

Brian began playing banjo in 1977. He always loved the sound of the banjo. He recalls staying home sick from school as a child and watching "Captain Kangaroo" and the wonderful sound of the banjo played on that show. Later he was hooked when he heard Earl Scruggs' recordings. By 1979, Brian was touring the Western United States full-time with a gospel bluegrass band called "Gloryland." After a 1 year stint with Gloryland, Brian left the band and moved to Fresno. For the next 22 years, for all intents and purposes, Brian set his banjo down to devote himself to raising his family and Christian ministry. After serving as a pastor of a small Bible church near San Jose, Brian and his family moved to Sonora, California in 2001. There, with his children grown and no longer under the time constraints of a pastoral ministry, he now had the time and inclination to begin playing banjo again. Since moving to Sonora, he has played with "The Grass Menagerie" and "Faultline." Currently he is working on a CD project with his son Jonathan, 19, who plays guitar, drums and bass. Their group is called "11 Strings." They are exploring the possibilities of jazz, blues, celtic and rock instrumentals with acoustic guitar and banjo by writing their own compositions, and hope in the future to add a bass/vocalist to expand into a trio doing instrumentals and gospel-based lyrics. Brian is happily married to Debbie, his beloved soulmate of 24 years. He gives banjo lessons on request.

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